[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 132 (Friday, August 5, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE LIFE OF JERRY GLADBACH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE GARCIA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 5, 2022

  Mr. GARCIA of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
life of Jerry Gladbach, an accomplished, distinguished, and beloved 
public servant to the City of Santa Clarita for more than three 
decades. Countless friends, colleagues, and family members remember 
Jerry for the way he treated everyone he encountered with kindness and 
respect. In addition to his affable demeanor and his magnetic 
personality, Jerry also left a remarkable impact on the world of 
Southern California water, using his unique set of skills and expertise 
to ensure Santa Clarita had access to clean water as it expanded from a 
small town to a booming suburb of Los Angeles.
  Jerry received his bachelor's and master's degrees from University of 
Missouri Columbia before moving to Santa Clarita in 1968. Upon arriving 
in California during one of the most dynamic periods of growth in the 
State's history, Jerry went to work establishing his roots, raising a 
family, and throwing himself into his work to provide clean and 
accessible water to the citizens of Los Angeles County. During his 35 
years of service as an engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water 
and Power, Jerry was responsible for creating solutions to provide 
reliable and clean water to millions of people.
  In 1985, Jerry was first elected to the Castaic Lake Water Agency 
Board in 1985, a whole year before Santa Clarita was even incorporated 
as a city, serving on the board through its merger to become the Santa 
Clarita Valley Water Agency, until his passing. During his tenure, he 
oversaw the expansion of Santa Clarita from a city of 85,000 to a city 
of more than 400,000, ensuring access to safe and reliable water to all 
its residents along the way. Additionally, he took his breadth of 
knowledge to share with various organizations, including the Local 
Agency Formation Commission, in which he served as president, chair, 
and received the ``Most Outstanding Commissioner'' Award in 2013. His 
dedication and willingness to encourage others left a significant 
impact on those that worked for and around him.
  His lifetime of service has left an indelible mark on our community, 
and his work on Santa Clarita's water boards will have a lasting impact 
for generations of Californians. His passion, kindness, and knowledge 
will undoubtedly inspire others to follow in his footsteps of dedicated 
public service. Our community is blessed to have had a man like him 
serving as a proficient steward of our water resources, and those who 
knew him are blessed to have counted him as a friend. We will continue 
to pray for his loving family that he left behind, but they can look 
back fondly at the legacy of Jerry knowing that he made a difference 
for the city he loved so much.

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